


All The Broken Pieces

by trispitas



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Multi, POV Andrew Minyard, POV Kevin Day, Pre-Canon, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, What Have I Done, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27886267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trispitas/pseuds/trispitas
Summary: Kayleigh Day gave up her baby boy to the Ravens in order to save their lives.Mary Hatford was hiding a dangerous secret that in the end costed her life.Kevin Day was doing fine on Christmas break until a call from Riko put everything upside down.Andrew Minyard doesn’t feel a thing until one of his pipe dreams turns impossible to ignore, and he falls.
Relationships: Kayleigh Day & David Wymack, Mary Hatford/Nathan Wesninski, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Kudos: 29





	1. The Life That Never Was

**Author's Note:**

> No harm intended with this.  
> The first glance of the idea came by how many doubts I have about the background story, fed later by the wonder of how someone like Nathan Wesninski could be married or have children.  
> Then, I got carried away by the possibilities that the canon plot offers, and I couldn’t stop myself from exploring further what-ifs along the way. So, here it is. Hope you like it and don’t be mad, I truly love Andreil.

* * *

**1 Kayleigh**

* * *

Kayleigh Day thought the hardest thing she had ever done was giving up Exy for good.    
She had no idea how excruciating it would be to give up her own baby.

There had been no way to make Tetsuji understand that she was in love with somebody else and that she intended to make a life by his side, along with  Exy and their little baby. And she had tried. 

For some time, Kayleigh had lived the best time of her life and she was unable to bear her own happiness once she knew the baby was on its way, but despite her best effort to have the future she wanted, her old friend was blinded by ambition and his family’s leash on him.

That was when Tetsuji came back for her.

Kayleigh tried to put Tetsuji back on her side, make him see how much she could still accomplish even with a family. It was useless. Also, the  Moriyamas felt the right to own her as they owned Tetsuji, that's why she felt the need to get free from them, no matter the cost. 

David  Wymack didn’t deserve that kind of life. The only one Kayleigh would drag him into if they stayed together, so it was for the best to cut ties with everybody before anyone got hurt. And that was how she left without a word.

It was the middle of the night when she packed a few things in a duffel bag and took little Kevin with her. It broke her heart leaving him at the door of what was becoming Castle Evermore, but she knew he was going to be better if she gave up on him now, that if she took him with her. Kayleigh would be able to hide and survive on her own, but she couldn’t afford the luxury of carrying a baby with her, and she couldn’t leave Kevin with his father; that would only put a target on both their backs. So instead, she knocked on the door at Evermore and ran.

Tears streamed down Kayleigh’s face at the thought of Kevin growing up in the cruel world that she had left him, ruled by the ferocious hand of Tetsuji and the cult he was building around  Exy . Always watched by the main branch of the  Moriyamas . 

Hopefully, Kevin would forgive her and given time, read the letter she had left for him at the last moment, where she explained who his father was. That was if Tetsuji allowed Kevin to read such letter. Kayleigh could only hope for Tetsuji to respect Kevin as her son. And the only  true heir of  Exy . 

It was too much to ask that Kevin and David could become a family at some point, but she needed to hang on to the last threads of hope remaining around her. 

That was the last day Kayleigh Day cried.

***

The plane finally landed in Baltimore. Kayleigh was shaking with fear of starting a new life so close to the Moriyama’s kingdom, but she thought being so close would be a better disguise than running back home. Anything was better than going back.

Or so she thought.

She left the airport with a new look and an old name. Kayleigh had been buried when she kissed Kevin goodbye at the stadium of the Edgar Allan University, and now, she was back at being Mary  Hatford . The British blond from the feared British gang. 

When Mary crossed the airport, she felt pinches of despair and regret with every family she passed by. And looking at the  Exy ads that started to pop everywhere, didn’t help the pain. Her fingers longed for the feeling of a racquet; her whole body missed the warmth of David despite his bad temper, and she couldn’t take from her mind the sight of Kevin’s beautiful green eyes before turning her back on him.

It was too late to go back. 

There was no way to imagine what would Tetsuji do to both her and her baby if she changed her mind after disappearing in the middle of the night. It would be best to see from the distance what would he make up about her sudden disappearance. An accident could be the perfect excuse to justify her absence, keep David safe, and leave Kevin with a fresh start ahead. She shook those thoughts apart. Mary needed to focus on her present if she pretended to survive.

This wasn’t the first time that Mary was running for her life, so she knew what to do: Look for a safe place to stay, be careful with money, don’t get attached to anyone, become invisible. The last part was much easier said than done given the fact that her face was now very well known in the sports world, but maybe, just maybe, being apart from Tetsuji, wearing contact lenses and her natural blond hair would help.

And it did. At least for a while. 

Mary had been doing as good as she managed in the suburbs of the city, sleeping where she could when the dreadful scream of a dying man startled her in the middle of the night. This wasn’t the first time she heard  horrifying sounds coming from one of the neighbor's houses, but they had never been so loud. So  _ real _ .

The scream clung to Mary’s ears for seconds before vanishing, and when she was about to forget it and convince herself it was pure paranoia of the  Moriyamas finding her, there was another scream. Then another. And after that, a burst of manic laughter that froze her in place.

It took precious seconds for Mary to react and go away before it was too late, but in those seconds, her long-denied nature had won over to the fear, and before she could think better about what she was doing, Mary stood up and walked towards the house where the terrible sounds had come from.

As she approached the place, memories of her time with the  Hatfords piled one after the other. The sounds, the sights, even the smell of blood in the distance were similar. Mary needed to run  _ now _ , however, her feet were unable to move anywhere else but forward, until a trap door from the house opened, and a bloodied man was pushed outside.

Mary flinched not for the state in which the tortured man appeared in front of her, holding on for dear life by the arms of the other two guys hurrying him outside, but because of the looks of the man that came out of the trap door at last. 

His auburn hair was shining with the street lights, and not even the dark of the night was enough to hide the chilly blue eyes that were now staring intently into Mary’s.

She should have run. She should have screamed. She should have known she could end worse than the man on the floor. 

Regardless, there was something in the deadly stare of the man in front of her that pulled Mary out of every thought and also, for no reason at all with a man dying in plain sight in front of his house, he gave Mary a strange feeling of... safety.

“My ax is already stained, so tell me quickly what the hell are you doing here before I slice that pretty throat of yours, blondie”.

Every instinct was shouting at Mary to run. She was short, but she could be  _ fast _ . There was a reason she invented a whole sport after all. But what was the point? She had given up on Kevin, on David. She would die anyway in the hands of a vengeful man. Better it be with a handsome yet cruel stranger than at the hands of someone she thought a friend.

“I’m hiding from someone. Do as you wish”.

Mary stood defiantly as the man and his team rounded her. He was adjusting the hold on his ax for a clean cut. Mary got ready for the strike and only hoped for it to be fast. 

The man lifted the ax. Mary didn’t close her eyes. 

She wanted to make clear that she was not afraid, but at the last moment, emotions betrayed her and closed them.

The terrible strike never arrived.

“And who are you escaping from? If I may ask? Your face seems familiar from somewhere”.

Mary dared to open her eyes again, despite the risk of being slaughtered at any moment.

“The  Moriyamas . I pissed them off. You’d probably heard of them”. She gestured toward the man on the floor.

Mary didn’t know why she was telling her truths so easily to this man. Truths that may cost them both their lives, but she was certain the strike would land anytime, anywhere. 

She dared to remember how it felt to have a racquet in her hands, how free she had been running through a court, how perfectly happy she had been feeling David’s lips and holding Kevin in her arms. Those were the best memories she wanted to hold on to in her last breaths. 

However, something in the man’s eyes changed. 

“I’m  the Butcher . But you may call me Nathan”. The man said, lowering his ax. “Lola, leave that scumbag and invite this woman inside”. Nathan said towards the young woman with the red vicious smile, before returning his attention to Mary. “I’ll get back to you”.

Unexpectedly,  the Butcher took Mary’s hand with a delicacy she wouldn’t have thought him capable of, and he kissed it before dropping it down.

“Come on little bird, let’s show you into your new cage”, said the woman while she walked towards the house’s main entrance.

As  the Butcher approached his victim again, Mary followed Lola, remembering one last time Kevin and David’s laughter before saying goodbye to Kayleigh Day forever.

* * *

**2 Mary**

* * *

It had been exactly eleven years since Kayleigh Day had ceased to exist. And this was an especially bitter anniversary for Mary. She had been counting the seconds since Nathan took Nathania away. 

He was probably mentoring her into butchering something, so she could inherit her father’s kingdom once he was gone, despite that she must earn that right. But something about this had something clenching in her gut.

Life with the Butcher was never easy. He had fulfilled his promise of keeping her safe from the Moriyamas. They hadn’t realized who she was in reality. Regardless, Nathan’s protection had come at a high price. Higher even than staying with Tetsuji. 

Mary never intended to get married, even less to bring another child into the miserable life she could offer, and here she was, wondering how was life for Kevin once the cameras were off and he had to get back to real life in Castle Evermore under Tetsuji’s cruelty and Riko’s power, and hoping Nathania wouldn’t bring back another awful wound form her father-daughter “bonding” time.

Seconds had stretched into minutes that had become hours, and the time far away from Nathania was making her more and more restless. The anticipation of the displeasing surprise she would find when they returned was unbearable, so she decided to follow her change of heart, and reviewed the emergency duffel bags she had ready for both of them.

It wasn’t long since she met  the Butcher and his men that Mary had decided to be prepared in case she had to hit the ground running again. Bringing Nathania to life had been an even bigger mistake than giving birth to Kevin, but this time, she had had enough time to think and plan. She wasn’t leaving her child again, and there would be no way in the world she was going to rely on someone else to protect her. Also, she would go back to her family in the UK if the time came. There would be no hesitation this time. She had lost enough.

Mary was almost finished folding again her clothes into the duffel bag when she heard the front door closing. There was no noise apart from the footsteps.

She hid the luggage back on its place behind the dresser and stepped out from the room to encounter the Butcher and Nathania. There was something strange in her daughter’s stare that Mary couldn’t identify. The hairs escaping her ponytail around her face made an auburn halo that framed Nathania’s exhaustion and a few bruises along her jaw and neck, and Nathan was tense, more than usual. Mary could only guess what was that about. 

“Don’t you dare failing tomorrow; do you hear me?” Mary didn’t have enough time to decipher the words when Nathan smashed Nathania into the nearest wall. The whole house seemed to rumble. “You play like your life depends on it, because it does. You saw a taste of what will happen to you if you don’t succeed. Are you listening, Junior?”

Mary knew better than to interfere when Nathan was giving a lesson, so she waited until Nathania was sent with Lola and Romero to practice her knife skills to question the Butcher.

“Where you took her?”

“Evermore”. Blood froze inside Mary with that only word. She felt herself go pale.

“No, you didn’t”.

Nathan faced her. “You know she is a loose end. And you know the  Moriyamas won’t let her be the new Butcher, even less if they know who her mother is. I will sell her to Tetsuji, pay my debt for having her, and that will keep you safe. That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

All the strength Mary had built along the years vanished in that very moment. She had never been precisely maternal, but she wasn’t as heartless as to give away her second child to the same hands she gave up the first. There was no way that would happen.

Mary used all of her willpower to keep a straight face for Nathan before going to bed. She made sure her husband was deeply asleep when she climbed out of bed and reached for her duffel bags. Mary dropped them at Nathania’s bedroom and went to Nathan’s office, where he kept hidden a good part of his emergency money.

She picked cash, credit notes, checks, and every other medium she found to access Nathan’s illegal fortune. The Moriyama’s fortune. Mary knew the run would last long if they succeeded in their escape, so she kept taking everything she could to assure her and Nathania a good way to keep escaping Nathan’s wrath once he realized what had happened, and the hunt began.

Keeping herself as quiet as she could, Mary went back to Nathania’s room.

“Wake up. Now!” Nathania opened her eyes slowly, still tired from the day. Mary didn’t have time to waste on her laziness. “Hurry up. We’re leaving”. She said at the time she threw her daughter some clothes to get her changed.

“Leaving where?” 

“Far. Come on. We don’t have time”. Mary grabbed Nathania by the shoulders to bring her to her feet and usher her to leave.

“But I’m playing  Exy with Kevin and Riko tomorrow”.

Mary froze for the second time that day. Hearing her son’s name from her daughter’s mouth shook something so deep that she could barely stay on her feet. For a brief moment, Mary allowed herself to think of a world where David and she could be together, teaching Kevin and Nathania how to play  Exy for fun, not to save their lives. That was a luxury not even all of the Butcher’s fortune could buy.

“I said let’s go”.

Reluctantly, Nathania took the duffel bag Mary offered and followed her through the passage that  led from the house to Nathan’s torture room, and back to freedom.

“Flying again little bird?” Lola’s voice startled both Mary and Nathania. 

Mary prepared herself to fight. She had no chance against Lola, but she would give her life to ensure Nathania’s. Lola’s vicious smile was so wide Mary wondered if she was going to swallow them both whole. She stopped sharpening one of her knives and stood up.

“This is not your business”.

“Oh, it is. But fly bird, fly while you can. Because we will chase you, we will find you, and we will make it as painful and miserable as you can imagine”.

Mary felt Nathania’s body crashing against hers for protection.

“You will see me again Junior, and it’ll hurt. It’s a promise”, she said towards Nathania, who was trying to keep a straight face despite the confusion and the fear spreading through both of them.

Running from the Buther was going to be hard, but returning now would bring on them the exact same awful bloody death. 

Mary lifted her chin defiantly despite the several inches Lola had on her, took Nathania’s hand, and walked away from the Butcher’s house knowing her clock had started to tick until the day of her murder. 

* * *

**The Life That Never Was**

* * *

Mary  knew the end was coming soon . 

She had done her very best to hold on. At least until Nathania was safely far from Nathan’s claws. She was bleeding too, but not as bad as Mary. 

Regardless of her painful, possibly mortal wounds, Mary had insisted on driving. With her hands on the wheel and the eyes on the road, she didn’t have much room to focus on the torture extending from her gut to the rest of her body, which was just making it worst to the other injured parts of her that suffered the Butcher’s wrath after their last encounter in Seattle.

Despite the pain and the fear and the terrible need to tell Nathania her truth, Mary still had enough strength to make her repeat Stuart’s number, to tell her over again locations of money, and Mary had even got the nerve to make Nathania think of their next names, despite the ever-growing chance that it would be only needed for one from now on.

“Josten sounds good” The girl had said through clenched teeth while she stitched by herself one of the wounds inflicted by Nathan’s men.

They had crossed California when Nathania forced them to switch places.

“The Josten’s. Okay, we can do that. And our names?” 

It was taking more time for Nathania to answer. Fear, pain, and exhaustion were taking their toll. She was focusing with all of her remaining strength to stay on the road. “I don’t know. I could be Nia”.

“No way, you stupid kid, that sounds too close to your name”.

“I like it”. She answered as if she still didn’t understand the consequences that she would have to face the next time she encountered Nathan.

Mary remained in silence, incapable of managing the pain anymore. Her knuckles were white from holding on to the car seat by the time they were crossing Mendocino towards San Francisco. They had been driving with only the necessary stops and they hadn’t slept, unable to close their eyes without seeing the Butcher and his people surrounding them with guns and knives ready to kill them.

Nathania had dark bags under her eyes, but she didn’t take her sight from the road. At least, she had stopped bleeding six cities away. 

For Mary, things weren’t going as well. Blood was still soaking through her clothes and she didn’t want to stop and change the bandages. Despite her rudeness towards Nathania, she knew all the blood would break her, and she didn’t feel strong enough to beat the shock out of her, so instead, Mary let her daughter drive while she held on to life for a little longer. 

Every time Mary blinked was harder to open her eyes again. She was so tired. So sore. So sad.

With her eyes closed, Mary could see Kayleigh again, with an  Exy racquet in her hands, and David behind her. She knew he was a coach somewhere, helping troubled kids achieve their full potential through  Exy . She wondered how would she fit in that life. 

She could see Kevin, all grown up and handsome and famous, but with a family. She could see him and Nathania playing together in their garden while David shouted at them to run faster, aim better, and don’t laugh even though it was Sunday.

“Mother?” The voice was so far. “Mother! Mom!?”

There was another sound, of someone gasping for air. Mary opened her eyes, ready to help Nathania, but Mary was the one choking. The vehicle was parked by the side of the road. 

“Not here”, Mary managed to say through the pain and the blood filling her mouth slowly.

Nathania brought the engine back to life and returned to the road. It was time to tell her. Tell her...

“Mother! Wake up! We are close. I’ll take you to a hospital, I don’t care. Don’t leave me. Mother. Mom?”

The next time Mary opened her eyes, the afternoon sun was filling the car, and Nathania was grabbing her from the shoulders, trying with all her might to pull her apart from the seat.

“Tell me the number”.

“Fuck the number! Don’t do this!”

Mary still managed one last effort to hold tight Nathania’s cheek. “Your life... your life depends on it”.

“What about yours? Mother don’t sleep. You can’t-You can’t leave me”. Fear was invading her daughter. She would be forced to survive on her own. It would be harder to do, but easier to hide and run. She was smart, and she was fast. She was built from and for Exy, after all. 

“No boys, no girls, no one. Remember. Remember the number. Call... call him” Every word was coming out in parts, filled with blood. Air refused to get into her lungs anymore, but Nathania needed to know before it was too late. She needed to know why she mustn't play Exy anymore, not without Mary.

Of all the rules she had been following since her birth, the only one Nathania never could wrap her head around was giving up  Exy , and Mary had allowed her daughter that tiny pleasure for her own happiness too until she knew the  Moriyamas’s and Nathan’s plans. Afterward,  Exy had become another prohibition for Nathania, and she must understand her life depended on staying away from a court. It was the same as it had been for Mary so long ago. She needed to make sure, but her mind was already miles away. The only thing left in Mary was the truth.

“Kayleigh”.

“ What ? ”

“I  am... ”. 

Mary’s lungs were on fire. Nathania was desperate to stripe her free from the car seat, but it was already too late. It didn’t matter how risky and stupid it was to step foot on a hospital, Mary wasn’t going to make it. She was going to die right there, far away from her dreams, her sport, and without knowing her son. She was going to die in her daughter’s arms, unable to tell her everything. At least, she had written another letter, similar to the one she left for Kevin all those years ago and hid it in the binder that would be now Nathania’s property.

Mary was out of time, and Nathania’s voice was vanishing faster by the second, but she put the last remains of her strength on the final words that would hopefully make Nathania find Kevin.

“I’m... Kayleigh Day”.


	2. The Truth Is Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin thought for so long he didn't have a family. Suddenly, within the Foxes, he had his father, and a sibling he certainly didn't ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes part between The Raven King and the beginning of The King's Men, so I took a few bunches of dialogues to adapt the plot to the canon.

* * *

**1 Truth**

* * *

Kevin had been staring at the scars in his left hand for an eternity when his phone rang. 

His head was still throbbing from all the alcohol he had taken on Christmas Eve’s dinner, but the hangover wasn’t strong enough to soften his frantic heart once he saw the number calling. 

Holidays on New York had been just fine until then. Matt’s mom was energetic and fun, delighted to show the city to them. Nicky was almost shinning from excitement to be able to socialize with somebody, Aaron looked happy for the first time since Kevin knew him, apart from his days with Katelyn, and Kevin himself wasn´t feeling as bad as he thought for being so far from a professional court. 

Christmas dinner had gone in peace. They talked cheerfully while Kevin got busy drinking as much as he could before finally going to bed. He didn’t need to think if Andrew would be interested in Exy once he was sober. He didn’t need to think how Nia’s stay at Evermore was going either, and the nearby court would be closed the next day. So, he planned to drown his thoughts into a deep and long sleep, but of course, Kevin had to be the first one up. 

Worries were so indifferent to holidays. 

His left hand was aching a bit because of the cold. He was wondering if there would be a time when he’ll be able to play left-handed again. The racquet he was holding while practicing drills alone in the garden didn’t feel as strange or painful as the first time he had tried after Riko broke it, but it was still not ready to play. He was hoping that somehow, staring at his scars would make it better. 

Then everything went to hell with the number shinning on the screen. 

One ring. Two rings. Ten rings. 

Kevin answered with a growl. 

“Merīkurisumasu, 2-ban” - _Merry Christmas, number two-_ Riko said in Japanese. 

“What do you want?” Kevin switched back to English. He was in no mood for Riko’s games. A couple of months ago, it would be unthinkable for him to answer like that. Today, he only wanted to play alone in that wonderful garden while the others slept and the nearby court opened again. 

“Oh, nothing more than to wish you Happy Holidays, since you ran away and I can’t congratulate you in person.” There was a long pause on the other side of the line. Was Kevin hearing screams? No, his hangover was playing games with him. “Also, I wanted to update you on the shameful team you changed us for.” 

Kevin was tempted to cut the call at that moment, but he knew better than to turn his back on the Master and his nephew. He had pushed them too much already. He shivered by the memory of a cane smashing his ribs. 

“See, Doe has been spending a wonderful time at Easthaven. I chose personally the perfect doctor to cure him, so no worries for him. As for Nathania, she jumped to the chance of saving him by coming here, so she will be transferring to Edgar Allan on Spring.” Something heavy fell through Kevin’s stomach. He knew what was coming, but hearing it was even harder than he could’ve thought. 

Riko went on “She’s already inked. Too much of a pain in the ass for such a tiny dwarf, but she’s finally where she belongs”. He made another pause to let the words sink in. Anger, jealousy, and something fierce was roaring inside of Kevin. 

Nia had been his discovery. He had gone to Arizona to find her. It had been pure casualty who she was in reality. She didn’t belong there. She was a Fox, through and through. 

“So bad you’re not here too.” Riko started speaking again. Kevin almost forgot he was still on the phone. “The Master would've appreciated having the full family as Ravens, as they must.” 

“You’re sick. I’m not coming back.” 

“Not even for your sister? You disappoint me”. 

The phone almost crashed on the floor. Kevin’s blood had frozen. Riko was playing one more of his games to get under Kevin’s skin. Only he had gotten way too far this time. What kind of joke was that? 

“Oh, don’t tell me now that you didn’t know? Too much of a casualty that you recruit into your loser team your long-lost loser sister, who also happens to be misplaced Moriyama property. Did you think that signing Nathania would protect her? She must return where she belongs. And she will. In Spring, as I said.” 

It took a lifetime for Kevin to recover his voice. Riko was lying. _Riko was lying._

“That’s not true. Nia is... she’s not. I didn’t...” 

“Connect the dots, or even better, find proofs if you don’t believe me, but she knew.” 

No. No, no, no. _Nononononononono_ _._

Kevin hung up without another word while rushing back to the bedroom he was staying in. He had promised to stay away from Nia’s binder and only keep it safe while she was gone, but not if her problems concerned him somehow. Riko had to be messing with Kevin. He was making up stories to force Kevin back with the Ravens. It had to be a lie. 

He went frantically through his things until the bottom of his luggage, where the binder was kept safely from the cousins’s curiosity. His heart stopped the moment he opened it. A full collection of Exy articles concerning him and Riko were stuck everywhere. Kevin saw his whole life in a flash of paper cuts that were protecting Nia’s secrets. 

Hidden inside of the article collection, Kevin saw lots of cash, notes, codes and finally, tucked at the bottom, a crumpled paper folded even more carefully than the rest of things. His heart was kicking hard against his ribs for no reason. He already knew who Nia was. He knew she was living a bunch of lies. There was no reason to be nervous about one last piece of paper with probably yet more undecipherable codes. 

He straightened the paper. It was a handwritten letter. 

He knew that calligraphy. A neater version, but the same in the end, and there was no way to fool that signature. 

The letter was written by his mother. 

"You already up? It’s Christmas, dude!” Nicky surprised Kevin on the door frame, walking towards the bed. Kevin hid the letter in his pocket and tucked away from the contents of the binder, far from the older cousin’s reach. 

“Couldn’t sleep”. 

“After all the booze? Oh-” Nicky reached for a piece of an article featuring Kevin’s “accident” on the mountains. “Sorry. Randy asked for help with breakfast and cleaning yesterday's dishes. And looks like Santa brought us gifts.” 

“I’m coming.” Nicky motioned as to go down together, but Kevin had no intentions of moving until he read that letter. He dismissed Nicky with a shaking hand. 

Once the footsteps vanished and voices started to chatter, he opened the paper. 

Riko wasn’t lying. 

That letter was the second written sucker punch he had received from his mother. 

It took everything in Kevin to fold Nia’s papers back the way he found them and even more so to put a straight face and go meet the rest. Everyone was enjoying Christmas morning. 

What would they say when they knew all the truth? What would Nia say about them being siblings? 

The rest of their days in New York would be the longest in Kevin’s life. 

* * *

**2 Wait**

* * *

As predicted, the rest of the holidays went as molasses for Kevin, whereas the cousins and Matt were wishing they never came to an end. Giving his obsession with Exy, everyone thought Kevin was acting anxious and disconnected because he hadn’t trained enough, but more complicated things were churning inside of him. 

His biggest concern was the repercussions that the Moriyamas would take on him now that he was related to Nia. Neither of them was safe now. Or perhaps Andrew could keep his promise of protecting both of them? 

Kevin needed so many answers, but as soon as he saw Nia again back from Evermore, he knew he would have to stay shut for a while. The rest of the team didn’t need to know anything yet; they would be on Nia’s side if he harassed her with questions given the poor state that she was in, and he didn’t need another round of being Matt’s punching bag as he had been once the upperclassman knew where Nia had spent her holidays. 

So, he waited. Also, he needed time, because strange feelings had arisen after he saw her. Was that how it felt to have a sister? Was it normal that need to make her feel better? 

Every bruise and bandage in Nia’s face reminded Kevin of his own awful time with the Ravens, of the injustices to Jean that he tolerated, of the nightmare, he may be dragged back. Kevin was angry and worried and scared in equal parts, but he had to keep it together until it was the right time. 

Picking Andrew back from his stay at Easthaven certainly wasn’t. 

The drive to the facility was eternal. He was sitting on the passenger seat beside Nia. It could be so easy switching to French to ask. To get at least a hint that Riko had been messing with him. To be sure the letter was a drunk invention. To get rid once and for all of the worry expanding to every single fiber of his being since Christmas. 

Not even his obsession with Exy had filled him like that dread. 

At last, he managed to stay quiet a bit longer. Nia didn’t look like she could take his questions right away without snapping. 

When they were finally in the waiting room, ready to pick up Andrew, Kevin couldn’t take his angst anymore, so he broke the silence despite Nia was about to take a much-needed nap. 

"I know what he's like," Kevin said in French. He didn’t dare to meet Nia’s eyes, so he focused on the last memory he had of Evermore. The worst of all. "Riko. If you want to talk." 

"Thank you." It took Nia a full minute to answer. 

"I know what he's like, but I can't—" Why was it so hard talking to her now? It was the same mouthy rookie he had met in Millport. Regardless, he felt the need to be the big brother he hoped he wasn’t. "Riko was cruel but he needed me to succeed. We were the heirs of Exy; he hurt me but there were lines he would not cross until the end. It was different for Jean. It was worse. His father owned the Moriyamas a great deal. The master paid those debts in exchange for Jean's presence on our court. He was property, nothing more. You are the same in their eyes." 

"I am not property," Nia replied. She sounded exhausted. 

"I know how he sees you," Kevin said. "I know it means he did not hold back." 

"It doesn't matter." Her voice almost broke with the lie. "It's over now and I'm back where I belong. The only thing that matters now is what comes next." 

"It's not that easy." 

"I'll tell you what's not easy: finding out from Jean that Coach is your father. Were you ever going to tell him?" 

Kevin hadn’t expected Nia to know. That complicated things a bit more. When he noticed the violent flinch he answered with, it was too late to hide it. "I was going to when he signed me. I couldn't." 

"Were you protecting him or yourself?" 

“Were you protecting me or yourself hiding that your mother was also mine?” 

This time, Nia was the one who would’ve flinched if she wasn’t in so much pain. Kevin was ready to push now the answers out of her, by force if necessary, but Andrew had picked that very moment to appear. 

Kevin’s answers would have to stay on hold yet again until he could find a way to have Nia for himself. 

* * *

**3 Siblings**

* * *

As Kevin let the days go by, all of his fear and worry turned into pure rage towards Nia. She hadn’t only lied to his face about her true identity, but also about his mother. _Their_ mother. 

He had asked directly if her mother had agreed on Nia signing with the Foxes once he knew who she was, and Nia had told him with an almost straight face that her mother had died in their last encounter against the Butcher. 

How was Kevin supposed to be okay with all of that and treat Nia the same? He grew up believing Kayleigh had died in a car crash, now it turned out she was alive then and she had died at the hands of the Butcher. The same hands that killed for the Moriyamas. The hands of her _husband_. 

Above all her lies, she was brewing something he didn’t want to know with Andrew, she was still sticking her nose in none of her business with the other Foxes, and worst of all, she didn’t give a damn about her health. Siblings or not, Kevin was getting sick of it. He could as well go back to the Ravens to end all of his pains once and for all. 

On the following Monday after returning from holidays, he decided he could take out his frustrations on the Court, so he resumed night practices. He had told Nia “no” more times than he could count. She was stubborn like nobody’s business. Hadn’t she seen the rainbow of bruises covering her from head to toe? Hadn’t she lied to him, ask to tell Coach his truth while hiding her own? She should wait as he had. She was no better than him. The “2” in his cheek was higher than the “4” she still hid in hers for a reason. 

No. He shouldn’t think of that. He needed more drills and fewer thoughts. 

Knocking cones for two hours only fueled Kevin’s temper, so once back in Fox Tower, he waited until Andrew disappeared in their dorm to bang into Nia’s suite. Bad luck for Matt if he was the one opening the door again because Kevin was ready to punch him this time. 

It was Nia who opened. She looked as battered as he expected. Still, he couldn’t stop the knot curling on his belly at the sight of a slight spark flashing through her eyes believing he had changed his mind about night practice. Kevin used that hope to his advantage and motioned Nia to get away from the suites. 

“Talk”. Nia looked confused. “Don’t play stupid with me. Tell me everything about my mother”. 

Deeper shadows appeared on the tender skin under Nia’s eyes as reality sank in. Clearly, she wasn’t ready to open up, but she understood that she owed at least that to Kevin. So, she told him the little she knew from Kayleigh Day’s return to being Mary Hatford, their life as the Wesninski family, and some parts of their years on the run until the day she died. 

By the time Nia stopped talking, Kevin was on the brink of tears. While he had had fame and Exy to no end and a façade to show against the injustices of the Ravens, Nia had had freedom at last. Always looking behind her back and far from a court, but at least she hadn’t been alone. She was annoying, a bit of an asshole, and extremely foolish most of the time, but she was the Foxes' least mediocre player, and despite having their mother with her, things have been just as difficult as they had been for Kevin. 

In the end, everything was on the Moriyamas. On Tetsuji. 

Instead of crying, he swallowed the pain and used it as motivation to beat the Ravens once and for all. 

It took them an infinity to recover. Each drowned in their own worries and memories. Kevin was the first one to find his voice again. 

“We will bring down the King, and we will do it as a family. Are you in, sister?” 

Of all the reactions he could think, from some violence to her deer-in-headlights look, to an impromptu escape, Nia picked the least expected. Kevin knew he had crossed a line by calling her “sister” so soon, but he needed her as much as she needed him. 

With a bit of shame and a lot of awkwardness, Nia rounded Kevin in a short embrace. “That’s what siblings do, right?” 

Kevin had grown up believing he was alone, and now he had a real family.

With that, there was no way for the Ravens to win. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for staying with me! Promise this will only get better. Angst and feels and fluff ahead!
> 
> You can also come and give a follow: @doodlingstuff on Tumblr and @trispitas on Instagram. 
> 
> See you there!


	3. Always Yes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew Minyard was a champion at avoiding having feelings until someone comes crashing into his world to turn everything he knew upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't leave!  
> Here's Andrew's POV on his feelings, what happened during the kidnapping, in Baltimore (with slightly more drama), and also during the final match against the Ravens.  
> Again, I took some chunks of original dialogue to fit the plot.  
> Hope you like the ending as much as I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

**1 No**

* * *

Andrew was _pissed_. 

Fuck Nia and her lies and her problems and her inability to shut up and her need to be the martyr no one asked for and her puppy eyes and her soft hair and for being a girl. A fucking _girl_. A girl who had no sense of personal space and now was following Andrew like a stray dog. 

What had been the point of accepting himself after all those years in hell just to end thinking about her all the damn time? 

She was moping about her problems, and she was about to collapse after Andrew tossed her a copy of his new car key. Why had he done it? Nia was sort of right, for his further annoyance. It was not only a key. It was an invitation. It was something else he was trying to deny with all his willpower. 

The ninety-one percent of the time he wanted to kill her wasn’t entirely because of her, but him, for letting her by his side. He should've let Renee take her into her protection while he could. There was no room for girls in his circle. There was no space for feelings in his being. But why was he believing then, that somehow, Nia was the answer to a question asked so long ago? 

There was no reply Andrew could give her that didn’t sound like a lie to his own ears and she was noticing. Nia was getting good at seeing through him. None of his indifference was enough to make her give up, and she was finding slowly all the holes in his armor. He wasn’t going to resist much longer. Not with those troubled eyes buried in him. 

"I'm tired of being nothing," Nia said after some time thinking. It sounded more like a prayer than a statement. It was the same prayer he had said himself while making the feelings disappear through the blood slipping from the cuts in his arms. 

"You are a Fox. You are always going to be nothing." Andrew retorted while getting rid of his cigarette. There wasn’t enough nicotine in the world to calm the heat rising in his chest "I hate you." 

"Nine percent of the time you don't." 

"Nine percent of the time I don't want to kill you. I always hate you." 

"Every time you say that I believe you a little less." 

"No one asked you." 

At that moment, Nia finally had enough. She stood from the edge of the roof and moved towards the door. 

Good. She would finally leave Andrew to his thoughts, except that his thoughts now were filled with clear blue eyes and auburn hair shining like sparks in the sunlight. He would’ve thrown his cigarette again if he hadn’t already. Better yet, he could throw himself and stop seeing her everywhere. Too bad he was so frightened about heights. 

Regardless of his plans, Andrew’s legs were acting on their own account. He couldn’t believe how his body was betraying him so hard after everything. Although there was a chance once he calmed his curiosity, the need would die and things would go back to normal. 

Just one try to prove how wrong he was, and he´ll give Nia to Renee. 

Just one try and Andrew would prove he was only looking at another awful pipe dream. 

Without a warning, he grabbed Nia by the shoulder before she could reach the door and changed her trajectory to the wall beside. Andrew put a hand on Nia’s throat and made her bones rattle when he clashed her in the concrete. There was no fear in her. Her gaze was fixed on his parted lips. For once, the smarty mouth was totally silent. 

Andrew didn’t have time for any second thoughts. He used his free hand to secure both of Nia’s above her head, far away from him and pressed his lips hard against hers. 

In that moment he understood as all the answers unfolded from his lips to the rest of his body. 

Girls were commonly all soft and curves. All delicacy and flowers, as Nicky would complain. Nia was nothing like them. She was rough around and inside the edges, ragged, broken, tough, scarred. His free hand went below Nia’s shirt and found only marks from a life on the run. There was nothing pretty about it. There was no softness, only the strange mixture of force, stupidity, and vulnerability that made him suspicious of her since that first day in Arizona. 

Andrew barely had enough strength to part his mouth from hers. 

“Tell me no”. 

Nia was flushed. Lips reddened and swollen. Eyes hungry for more. Despite her hands turning white from the force Andrew put into pinning her, she had her fingers dug deep into her palms. "Why not?" 

"Because you're too stupid to tell me no.” 

"And you don't want me to tell you yes?" 

"This isn't yes. This is a nervous breakdown. I know the difference even if you don't." 

Images of his last encounters flashed through Andrew’s perfect memory. Drake’s brutality. Proust’s methods. Andrew wasn’t sure anymore who was the one having said nervous breakdown. He promised he would keep Nia alive that year. Dragging her into his void wasn’t the way. 

He tried to erase the memory of their kiss by rubbing a finger on his lips. He didn’t want the taste of her problems lingering on him. "I won't be like them. I won't let you let me be." 

Nia gaped like a fish while flexing her numbed fingers. It took her a full minute to find her words again. "The next time one of them says you're soulless I might have to fight them." 

"Ninety-two percent, going on ninety-three.” 

A smile broke thin into her pretty mouth. “Thank you”. She was holding on to the car key like it was a treasure. 

"Go away before I push you off the side” 

"Do it. I'd drag you with me” Nia replied before crossing the door back to the safety of Fox Tower. 

It wouldn’t matter if Nia dragged Andrew from the roof to the ground or towards certain death with her gang problems. By then, with a flash of auburn going down the stairs still fixed in his pupils; Andrew knew he already had fallen. 

* * *

**2 Thank You**

* * *

_Thank you. You were amazing._

_You were amazing._

_Amazing._

_Thank you._

_I’m asking you to help us, will you?_

Nia’s last words were replaying over and over in Andrew’s head long after the riot ended. 

It had taken the Foxes almost two hours to reunite again. Andrew, Wymack, and Renee had done their best to protect the team, but a full stadium filled with raged fanatics wasn’t something easy to defeat. 

Now they were all gathered in the waiting room of the last of three hospitals they had visited that night, waiting for Matt’s release. There wasn’t still a sign of Nia. 

Everyone was hoping she was in another hospital. No one knew how many injured were yet, so there was a big chance of hearing from her anytime soon. Except that Andrew didn’t buy it. 

He didn’t know how, but he was certain something had gone terribly wrong with her, as it always seemed to happen. So, once he double-checked everyone in his lot was safe, he started calling every single hospital and clinic in the surroundings for the third time, while the others kept waiting. 

Andrew had twenty-seven negatives accumulated by the time all the Foxes were on their way back to the stadium. Why was it so hard to find an auburn-haired, smart mouth girl in a bright white and orange uniform with a stupid number inked in her face? 

Wymack had told them they’ll look for Nia when they returned to the bus. Maybe she was already waiting for them in there. His eyes betrayed his words. Not even the upperclassmen were buying it now. It had been too long for someone like her to be missing. 

Fear of something bigger happening was spreading around the Foxes, even if they couldn’t put a finger on it. Andrew could, though. He knew Nia was a liar. Too bad it didn’t help to put down the dangerous feeling exploding inside of him. 

Back on the BU stadium, Andrew tried calling Nia’s number again while the ones who could scatter around the place of the disturbance, hoping to find her around, hiding from the remaining policemen and paramedics still on site. 

Andrew’s calls were sent to voicemail over and over and over until he heard Nia’s ringtone in the distance. He was imagining it. Another hallucination of his latest pipe dream. He tried again. 

The ringtone wasn’t in his head. 

Andrew retraced the path they followed until the last time he saw Nia. 

A few steps afar, Kevin was already moving towards a battered orange duffel bag with a phone ringing. 

Andrew sped to get before, but Kevin had the phone opened in his hand. Color drained from his face at the same time that his legs gave away and made him fall to his knees on the concrete floor. He was failing miserably in his attempt to held back a sob. 

“Nonononononononono” 

Andrew ripped Nia’s phone from Kevin and stared at a “0” on the screen. 

He called the number once. Twice. It was unavailable. He scrolled through all her messages to find it was the only unknown number, except for the last call answered, just a few minutes before the riot erupted. A few minutes after she said her last words to Andrew. 

She wasn’t being pitiful as always; she was saying goodbye and Andrew hadn’t given it any importance until it was too late. 

For some reason, he had thought he’ll have more time. He had been sure that he would be able to play the truths game once they were safely back on the bus. It never occurred to him they wouldn’t make it. 

“My- my- nonononononono" 

Kevin was still muttering nonsense under his breath at the same time that he straightened the strings on Nia’s racquet. He wouldn’t be that wrecked if he didn’t know something more than Andrew. He wouldn’t be having one of his trademark panic attacks if Nia wasn’t something more than just his companion starting striker. 

It took no effort for Andrew to pick Kevin by the neck and slam him into the nearest wall while trying to choke the answers out of him. “Tell me what you know before I slice you”. 

Kevin tried to get a hold of Andrew’s wrists, but his strength failed him. He looked frantically between Andrew’s murderous gaze and help from the nearest Fox around. 

In a few seconds, Andrew had hands everywhere, and screams around him were begging to let go, but he wasn’t going to let Kevin off so easily. 

He shouldn’t have taken Nia under his wing; he shouldn’t have freed her from his promise and he certainly should have known something was off when she said goodbye at such a random moment that night. Now, his only hope to find her was in the truths Kevin was keeping for himself. Andrew choked him some more despite the efforts of Wymack and Matt to separate them. 

“Andrew, let him talk” Renee’s calm voice pierced through the noise. “He would be of no use if you kill him before he speaks”. She held up a bandaged hand and placed it over Andrew’s. Then she started loosening his fingers until Kevin was finally free. 

He gasped frantically for air while Wymack dragged Andrew back to give him space. “I swear I’m going to-” 

“You are doing nothing”, Wymack interrupted. “You, spill what you know before I let Andrew do with you as he wishes”. 

“Do you know where is she?” Dan asked from behind. 

Kevin sent terrified glances between the Foxes. It took him forever to make a sound. “I- Nia- She's- She's-” A ring interrupted them. Their Coach partially released Andrew to look at the caller’s ID. Andrew saw it was a private number. His heart hammered against his ribs. He only hoped his face wasn’t betraying him the same way his organ was. If Nia was found, he was ready to go wherever she was. 

“Yes?” Wymack was pissed by the interruption. “Yes. Yes. Yes”. Each answer came slower and lower than the last. “Maryland? What the... Yes, okay. We are on our way.” He hung up. “It was the FBI, they found Nia.” 

3 That one word 

Andrew was ready to slam full force into Kevin again, but Wymack was prepared this time and Renee also stepped between them. “You will stay calm” Coach said to Andrew “And you, will have three hours to speak while we get to Baltimore”. 

They climbed to the bus still too stunned to talk. Wymack hauled Andrew from the collar of his sweatshirt to keep him on the front of the bus where he could stop him if he attempted anything else against Kevin. The latter took a seat in the middle of the bus, rubbing his throat, with everyone around him, ready to hear whatever he knew about Nia’s whereabouts. 

As the Foxes learned about the Moriyamas, the Butcher, and Kayleigh, they felt everything from hatred, to horror, to betrayal, to surprise. They unleashed part of their feelings towards Kevin, who never stop adjusting the strings in Nia’s racquet as if reassuring himself she would return. They tried to blame Andrew, but his mind was running wild a thousand miles from them, preparing himself for the fallout of the worst-case scenario. 

When Kevin finished saying the part he knew from Nia’s truth, it was Coach’s turn to let them know what the FBI had told him through the phone. 

The Butcher was out of prison. He had hurt Nia. The Bucher was dead. Nia could be anytime. 

At that moment, Kevin finally broke into an awful cry, followed by muted sobs from Allison, Dan, Nicky, and Matt. 

Andrew was clenching his fists so hard he might break a finger. He was feeling drops of blood leaking from his palms to the cheap carpet of the bus floor. Renee was the only one who noticed, so she handed Andrew a tissue before he could protest. 

When they arrived in a motel outside of Baltimore, every single Fox was a wrecked mess of bruises, tears, and despair to see Nia right away. Andrew couldn’t believe how easy they have forgiven her. Alas, they didn’t need to know he had forgiven her since he found her phone and duffel bag alone in the stadium. 

Wymack and Abby ushered the Foxes into a suite in the motel and tried to organize the space available as best as they could. As soon as everybody got settled, Abby started working again on the team injuries and their Coach motioned some of them to order some food before disappearing through the door. 

Before anyone could stop him, Andrew followed to eavesdrop on Nia’s location. It was hard to hear from the distance he was keeping, but he could use the time to look for nearby hospitals while the other man hung up the phone. He barely managed to hide a flinch after noticing Andrew on the door. 

“Get in. The FBI is coming”. 

“Where’s Nia?” 

“Get in before I do it for you”. 

“Where is she?” 

“They wouldn’t tell me. Now get in. I have to calm them before the agents arrive. And you, shut up”. 

Andrew considered running then. Running like Nia hadn’t. If no one was giving answers, he would visit every single hospital around until he found her. 

He was too slow. For the second time on that trip, Wymack hauled him inside from the hoodie of his sweatshirt. Next time, he would draw out his knives. 

Wymack warned them about the FBI’s visit and hushed their burning questions just in time to hear a knock on the door. 

Andrew was faster this time and beat Coach to open the door. “Where is she?” 

The agents ignored his question with disdain and stepped into the overcrowded room. They started speaking. Andrew wasn’t used to feeling so much. He didn’t need to hear again the story of the Butcher and his death. He needed to know where was Nia before he lost it. 

“Where is she?” He tried again. Renee lifted her head and fixed her gaze on him. She knew what was coming. She nodded slightly. He would get answers one way or the other. 

“Safe. Now, we are going to start the questioning. Who wants to-” 

“Bullshit! You tell me where is Nia or-” 

“Coach” Interrupted the agent. Time seemed to freeze at Andrew’s sudden rage. The Foxes hadn’t heard him raise his voice ever, not even when he was high with meds, but for once, they were more concerned about Nia than afraid of him. 

“Sorry, sir. But I agree. Can you tell us where is Nia?” 

“I need to see her”. Muttered Andrew under his breath so only the agents and Wymack could hear him. He looked at the closest agent straight in the eye, hoping like he never had in years that a single word would work in his favor. “Please”. 

The Foxes interchanged glances, clearly confused by what was going on between them. They had been ready to back up Andrew in his impossible fight and suddenly he was calm. The agents also looked at each other for a moment before one of them motioned towards the door. “Follow me”. 

Andrew went out first, eager to keep playing it cool if that would grant him see Nia again. 

“We can’t reveal her location. She’s now under our custody, but we need her statement and she refuses to talk. Maybe one of you can convince her since she only asks for her team. On two conditions”, he added before Andrew could argue “First, you take that bus out of sight. We don’t want any press on the case yet, and second, you secure your player so we make sure he doesn't become an accomplice in Nathania’s crimes”. 

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Wymack asked. 

“Take this” The agent replied while taking out a couple of spouses from his belt. 

“No way” Andrew had promised himself to never be handcuffed again. He had done anything in his power during his time in juvie to ensure that. He wasn’t going to pick again a cage. 

_Thank you. You were amazing._

Before he thought about it better, Andrew offered his arm. 

4 Always 

The ride was eternal. Andrew and Wymack traveled on the back of the car, unable to see where they were heading because of the tinted windows and the cover that separated them from the driver’s seat. Much worse than any pig’s car. 

Andrew killed time and eased his nerves performing a little trick Renee had taught him. He only hoped it didn’t backlash. 

Sometime after, the three men were walking through white halls. Andrew’s skin was crawling. He had sworn to never step foot on a hospital again, and here he was, giving a full tour on them. All for Nia’s sake. 

Fuck Nia. 

If she wasn’t dead by the time that they got to her, Andrew would kill her. It was just a matter of which knife he would pick. It must be small, it could- His blood froze at the sight of two more agents outside of a room. He tried to sprint, but Wymack’s weight on the other side of the handcuff forced him to slow. 

They stopped in front of the agents. They started talking. The curtains were shut tight so Andrew couldn’t have a single glimpse of Nia. He was desperate enough to risk his freedom. He had put everything else upside down and had broken every single promise he had made to himself by then. What was one more kick into his doom? 

With a single flick of his wrist at the right angle, Andrew was free from the spouse and slammed the door opened. Before anything, he locked it again from the inside to buy himself some time. 

His heart escaped his body the moment he entered the room. Andrew wasn’t ready for that image. 

He could still recall Nia with dark hair and fake eyes. He could still picture her frightened look the first time she left the contacts behind on their visit to Eden’s Twilight. He could still see the “4” inked on Nia’s cheek. He could hear her saying _Thank you. You were amazing_ over and over. He couldn’t see her like that. 

Despite the terror rising, Andrew approached the bed. He did his best to steady his hand as he motioned to peel one of the multiple bandages covering her face. A vicious collection of burns had taken the place of the damned number. 

He felt a sudden rush of nausea and hatred like he hadn’t ever. 

Andrew had dedicated his entire existence to forget emotions. He had endured every single horror thrown at him. He had killed and got rid of each person that had hurt the ones he cared about. And now here he was. Hands shaking, legs failing, throat turned into a tight knot because the man that had caused all of that was already dead and it hadn’t been by Andrew’s hands. 

The knives in his armbands were suddenly heavy, useless. It had been so, so long since the last time he had felt that powerless. Not even in the wrong hands working through his body, he had felt such raw despair to do something. Anything. 

Andrew pasted the bandage back on Nia’s cheek with more force than necessary. 

She stirred and open her eyes. Her stupid chilly blue eyes Andrew feared so much he would never see again until that very moment. 

“Andrew? Wh- Ho- I" She tried to move. It was useless with the handcuff tying one bandaged arm to the bed’s rail. 

“Shut up” Before he could stop himself, Andrew was climbing to the side of the bed. “Yes or no?” He asked with a hand over her hair. 

“It’s always yes with you”. 

When Andrew was about to reply that she was the biggest liar and most stupid runaway of all times and that she shouldn’t be saying “always” to him, Nia had fallen asleep again, curled as much as she could towards his body. He knew Nia wasn’t made for affection. _Andrew_ wasn’t made for affection, but he needed to hold on to his pipe dream to make sure it didn’t vanish again. 

That’s why Wymack, the three FBI agents, a doctor, and a nurse, found him stroking Nia’s hair with a tenderness so unlike both of them. 

At that moment, with Nia safe by his side again, breathing steady against his leg, with the understanding of a “this” settling inside him like a promise he could hold, _a_ _lways_ didn’t feel so bad after all. 

* * *

**5 Smile**

* * *

The short sprint towards Nia felt like an eternity. 

Andrew’s numb legs weren’t up for another race after the brutal final match against the Ravens, but he pushed harder as fear raised from the tips of his fingers to the center of his chest. 

In those few feet separating them, Andrew could remember every single moment shared with Nia. From their first violent encounter, the mistrust for her secrets, to her turning into his answer, into his always. 

Riko had done just enough to fuck her life as it was. Nia had had more than enough for a lifetime. And Andrew had renewed his promise of keeping her alive after the dreadful events in Baltimore. 

The same thirst for the vengeance he couldn’t have then, filled each and every one of Andrew’s cells with renewed energy to run as fast as he could. He wasn’t ignoring the signs this time. He wasn’t going to walk away even if a tank appeared in his path. 

Riko hadn’t been there to pick Nia’s pieces after he broke her on Christmas, nor he had been there after the Butcher’s kidnap. Andrew had. 

He had been the one glued to her side while she confessed every single one of her truths to the FBI. 

He had been there when the Foxes were allowed to visit her for the first time when they took her back into the team even though no one knew if she could ever step foot on a court again. 

He had been there holding her up when she gave her first steps. 

He had been the one riding her every single night to practice before Kevin and then the rest of the team joined them for extra time on the court. 

He had been the first one up to go with Wymack and Kevin to beg the ERC to delay the season finals until she was ready to play again. 

He had been the one controlling her recurring night terrors and panic attacks every time she recalled a lighter on her cheek, a cleaver in her ankles. 

In the few seconds that it took Andrew to reach them, all his present, past, and future flashed before him. 

Riko wasn’t going to take that for him. Nia was his only real pipe dream. His answer. His always. 

Nothing sounded better than the sickening crunch of bones breaking through racquets. “I told you to not touch my things”. 

The ferocity of his words made Nia look up to him. Fear was still thick between them. Riko’s screams were deafening. The other players finally heard the commotion. Before anyone got near them, Andrew was on his knees. He had fulfilled his only broken promise at last. Nia survived the year. 

Without time for second thoughts, Andrew took her face into gloved hands and motioned her closer to press his lips against hers. Just to know she was real. 

Nia melted in his hands once she realized it was over. It was really over. She hung to Andrew’s sides without asking. He was as safe in her hands as she was in his. 

A second later, the Foxes were surrounding them. “We won Nia! We won!” Dan chanted while Aaron and Kevin made faces on the back. 

They had seen their kiss. Everyone had seen it, given the crazy screams of the fans. He didn’t care. 

For the first time in a long, long time, Andrew’s lips curved slowly into what his muscles remembered to be a sincere smile. 

The Foxes explosion of euphoria would linger in his ears for the rest of his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you got here, thank you so much for reading! It means the world to me.  
> All kudos, comments, and shares are deeply appreciated.
> 
> If you didn't like the Andria spin, don't worry, I'm moving on to deliver the intake of what would've happened if Neil lasted untouched until May. Hold on because it promises to be intense.
> 
> Remember that I'm better drawing than writing, come take a look!  
> @doodlingstuff on Tumblr and @trispitas on Instagram. 
> 
> See you on the next adventure!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm better drawing than writing, come give a follow!  
> @doodlingstuff on Tumblr and @trispitas on Instagram. 
> 
> See you there!


End file.
